About our School

Lavern Gaynor was born December 20, 1923, to Dellora and Lester Norris. The oldest of five siblings, she spent most of her childhood in St. Charles, Illinois. Lavern graduated from Northwestern University and, while attending school, volunteered on the south side of Chicago, tutoring and mentoring teen boys whose fathers were drafted into WWII and whose mothers had to go to work. 

In 1945, Lavern made her first trip to Naples with her parents, where they invested in the Keewadin Club and later purchased five miles on Key Island for preservation.

Lavern married George Gaynor, a young oil company executive, in 1946. His job with Texaco took the couple and their two young children overseas, first to Belgium and then to Italy. Her experiences as a foreigner living in Europe helped her empathize with children learning English as a second language.

After many years abroad, Lavern and George returned to the U.S. in 1976, choosing to settle in Naples permanently. While in Naples, they championed ways to conserve the pristine environment, while Lavern also devoted herself to children’s causes, especially early learning.

Lavern’s family support of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida spans decades. Among many accolades, Lavern was named Youth Haven’s “Child Advocate of the Year,” twice-named the YMCA’s “Preeiminent Pioneer,” was the first to receive Hodges University’s Humanitarian of the Year Award, and was presented the inaugural “Heart of the Apple” award by Champions For Learning.